A woman was apprehended on Thursday after deputies said she impersonated a nurse and attempted to steal a newborn baby from a hospital in Riverside County, California, the sheriff’s department announced.
The 23-year-old woman, identified as Jesenea Miron, was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for kidnapping charges and is currently being held on a $1 million bond.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to Riverside University Health System – Medical Center around 10:30 a.m. Thursday after a hospital worker called 911 to report an individual impersonating a nurse at the hospital.
Upon arrival, deputies were told that Miron entered the hospital posing as a newly hired nurse and gained access to a medical unit where newborn babies were kept. She allegedly entered a patient’s hospital room and identified herself as a nurse. While inside the patient’s room, she attempted to take their newborn infant. Miron was confronted by hospital staff, who then notified security.
She fled the hospital before deputies arrived. However, deputies swiftly identified Miron as the suspect and served a search warrant at the 11000 block of Weber Street in the city of Moreno Valley, where Miron was located and apprehended, Fox29 reported.
“Additional items of evidentiary value were also located inside the residence,” the sheriff’s department wrote in a press release.
The hospital targeted by Miron issued the following statement Friday night:
“Riverside University Health System– Medical Center has multiple layers of security to protect the safety and well-being of patients and staff, and we’re thankful those systems and our vigilant staff were able to thwart this suspect.”
“We appreciate the swift response from the Sheriff’s Department. We are working with them to investigate how the suspect accessed the patient’s room and interacted with the family. Our security protocols have been reviewed and reinforced, and we have additional sheriff’s deputies on campus.”
“We are also working with the family to address their concerns and ensure their emotional well-being.”
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call Investigator Galvan or Master Investigator Merrill of the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station at 951-486-6700 or the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at 951-776-1099.
